December 16, 2017. – Added large and small models of New Central Library (Alberta, Canada) by Ben Stephenson & Matt Leadbeater to the guide. (See all changes in Appendix: Version History.)

As readers of my site may already know, the official LEGO Architecture series has released nearly 40 sets since it’s introduction in 2008. That’s an average of about 4 sets per year! In recent years we have seen even more sets, especially with the introduction of the Skylines series in 2016.

A few of the amazing unofficial LEGO Architecture sets which have been made. (Leadenhall Building by Bright Bricks, Hilton Paris Opera by Amazings, Capitol Records by Adam Ward.)

That may be enough for casual fans, but the most die-hard LEGO Architecture enthusiasts are always looking for more. That’s why I created this list of unofficial LEGO Architecture sets.

The sets in this guide can be broken into two groups:

Authorized sets by Certified LEGO Professionals.

Unofficial sets by LEGO Artists.

All of the sets included in this guide were created in very small quantities and are difficult to find. I only own a couple of the sets in this guide, so I am unable to provided detailed information about all of the sets listed here. Even if you are unable to acquire these sets, I hope they give you inspiration to build your own amazing LEGO Architecture models.

NOTE: This guide is an early beta, and has not been shared broadly. If you see any mistakes, or know about additional LEGO Architecture kits I should include in this guide, send me an email. Thanks!

Sets by LEGO Certified Professionals

LEGO Certified Professionals are talented LEGO builders who promote the LEGO brand by creating amazing creations that inspire others. They are not employees of the LEGO Group, but have been selected by the LEGO group to amplify the LEGO brand through their commissioned work. There are currently only 15 LEGO Certified Professionals around the world, with a few more that might be added soon. (You can learn more at lego.com.)

LEGO Certified Professionals can buy large quantities of LEGO bricks direct from the factory in order to build massive commissioned LEGO projects. These are typically corporate sponsored events celebrating a new product, or an art installation.

Certified professionals are also allowed to create custom LEGO kits as a part of their commissions. There are a lot of restrictions on what they are allowed to create, but based on what I’ve learned, they can build up to 500 kits based on a single design, and have been allowed to use the LEGO Certified Professional logo on the sets they create. Because the complete LEGO Certified Professional logo includes a small version of the iconic red LEGO logo, the sets appear to have the official LEGO logo. (It isn’t clear if future sets will continue to use the LEGO Certified Professional logo.)

This list was inspired by a much longer list containing all known LEGO Certified Professional sets which you can see at http://minifigpriceguide.com.

LEGO models by Bright Bricks

Bright Bricks was started by LEGO Certified Professional Duncan Titmarsh in 2010.

Bright Bricks is a prolific LEGO team based in Hampshire, UK. They have done a ton of commissioned projects with large global brands like Land Rover, Warner Brothers, and GE. Based on photos of the Bright Bricks team, it looks like they have more than 25 people working on a wide variety of LEGO projects. (According to their Instagram account, they are the world’s largest independent LEGO company—easy to believe when you see the quantity of projects they’ve done and the scale of many of these projects!)

The majority of their creations are large-scale models to promote global brands, but they have also done numerous fundraising partnerships, especially with Cathedrals across the UK—you will see many of the LEGO kits they designed below.

Most of the Bright Bricks kits include a four-digit Serial Number (I can only assume the first kit they designed is Serial Number 0001.) They are sorted roughly chronologically.

Leadenhall Building

This is a very unusual building, artfully re-created using only 566 LEGO bricks. This is one that I’d really love to have an opportunity to build!

The Gherkin

The Gherkin is a famous building in London due to its round, pickle-like form. The building’s official name is ’30 St Mary Axe’. This set by Bright Bricks attempts to capture the building’s shape, and twisted pattern, but looks like a cylinder to me. There is very little information and only low-resolution images of this set available online.

Chester Cathedral

In addition to the following two models, they also created a brick-built re-creation of “The water of Life” sculpture (1002 pieces, Serial # 0056.)

Cathedral Building

Chester Cathedral is a large cathedral in Chester, England. Like many great cathedrals, it was built over several hundred years, which is why it contains a blend of earlier Romanesque architectural styles and latter Gothic styles.

It is artfully captured in this model by Bright Bricks, which appears to be a faithful re-creation of the building’s overall form and proportions. (The choice of using Reddish-brown bricks for the exterior isn’t a bad choice, but I think dark tan would be a better match—assuming that all of the required pieces are available in that less common color.)

Chester Cathedral Organ

While not strictly architecture, this beautifully designed organ is an excellent piece of interior design!

Exeter Cathedral

Two LEGO models based on Exeter Cathedral have been re-created by Bright Bricks. The first version includes only the cathedral itself, while the second version adds the outbuildings. (Chapter House, Church House, Cloisters, Bishop’s Palace.)

St. Edmundsbury Cathedral

Small Version

I am extremely pleased with the creative use of parts in this set. This includes the undersides of 1×1 Plate with tooth (Part #49668), and 1×2 Plate with 3 teeth (Part #15208) to mimic intricate Gothic arches using a very small number of parts.

LEGO models by Amazings

Amazings is a talented team of six full-time staff (soon to be 7), and a network of supplying artists. They are based in Flanders, Belgium.

Their tagline is great… “Art and events with LEGO bricks” This is a great summary, since they seem to do a mix of commissioned LEGO models and LEGO art, a wide range of events including Team-building sessions, as well as creating LEGO models for promotional purposes like the ones featured below.

Over the years, they have created a diverse selection of architectural kits, ranging from highly detailed architectural models for consumers, to technically minded kits aimed at industry insiders.

Hilton Paris Opera

This is probably the most iconic LEGO Certified Professional architecture set ever created. It was only available for a very short time due to the small production run.

Stadsmuseum Gent

This is a simple model built using just white and clear bricks (in the style of the LEGO Architecture Studio set.) The most unique thing about the set is the packaging—it’s packed in a cool red cylinder that you might expect to contain a rolled-up poster.

Hilton Hotels

The following two sets were never made available to the public. The kits weren’t made to look fancy because they were designed to help explain modular building concepts.

Dirk explained that: “Entire hotels are being built like that” where each stackable container “contains two rooms and a part of the hallway in between them. Those are built in one place … then shipped to destination where they are literally stacked together. Amenities are connected, a facade is risen, and there is the new hotel.”

This is a great example of how custom LEGO kits can be used to help tell a story, even when the audience is employees instead of the general public.

Hampton by Hilton Hotel

The first of the two models highlights how a hotel can be quickly assembled from shipping container modules using a tall crane. It’s quite a clever model. For a review of the set with construction photos, see this article on Doktor Brick (German).

Unofficial sets by LEGO Artists

While only 14 LEGO artists are lucky enough be Certified Professionals, there are many other talented LEGO builders who have created custom kits of their own.

This presents one huge disadvantage—They can’t buy bulk LEGO bricks directly from the factory. That said, they are also not restricted to getting their projects approved by The LEGO Group, and aren’t limited to creating just 500 sets.

A few of these models were created by LEGO Artists for Brick Loot, a subscription which sends a box of fun stuff every month, including a custom kit containing genuine LEGO bricks. (Brick Loot has to buy all of the parts from sites like Bricklink, since they aren’t an officially sanctioned LEGO product.)

Capitol Records Tower

Adam is a freelance LEGO artist, who is also working at Bricksburg on future LEGO films. This model was created as part of Capitol Records 75th Anniversary celebration.

Stay tuned, I’m hoping to offer a review of the set soon at brickarchitect.com!

New Central Library, Alberta, Canada.

There is both a Small and Large version of this model, both designed to be sold as a fundraiser for the Calgary Public Library. (Box, instruction, and sticker by Matthew Leadbeater.)

Large version

Ben Stephenson is a local LEGO artist in the Alberta area. He designed the larger of the two models listed here. He also built an amazingly detailed 100,000 piece model of the building to help build excitement for the new Library—it won’t be completed until 2018.

@ Home

This is a custom model I designed for Brickloot based on contemporary trends in architecture towards bold projecting volumes, rectangular forms, and bright colors. Although the model uses colored bricks, it was designed to be an extension to the simple models in my book The LEGO Architect.

@ Home, by Tom Alphin (image: Brickloot)

Location: n/a
Artist: Tom Alphin
Year: November 2016
Number of pieces: 69
Number of sets: Around 1700

Chicago Water Tower

This is an artfully designed microscale model based on the Chicago Water tower by one of the world’s most talented LEGO Skyscraper Artist, Rocco Buttliere. The model’s most unique design feature is the clever use of Brick Yellow (Tan) Technic pins to re-create the stone towers surrounding the real building.

Chicago Water Tower, by Rocco Buttliere. (Photo: Brickloot)

Location: Chicago, USA
Artist: Rocco Buttliere
Year: August 2016
Number of pieces: 80
Number of sets: Around 1700

The Oklahoma Series

Oklahoma LEGO Architecture enthusiasts Ricardo Montoya has re-created numerous Oklahoma City landmarks using LEGO bricks. His style is tied to the simplicity of the official LEGO Architecture Studio set, preferring White and Clear LEGO bricks. This allows his models to focus on pure architectural forms.

Ricardo has made five of his designs available as kits. The hand-packed sets contain genuine LEGO bricks and building instructions. You can purchase sets or download building instructions free-of-charge from katyandricardo.squarespace.com/building-kits/

Other possible sets

The following sets have not been confirmed to be produced with real LEGO bricks, and it is unknown if they were created by fans, or by a LEGO Certified Professional.

Appendix

Bibliography

I had to do a lot of research to create this guide. Here are the main sources I used for information about these kits.

Minifig Price Guide. “Articles tagged ‘Certified Professional’.” 2015, ongoing.Minifig Price Guide is one of the only LEGO blogs which features a lot of rare LEGO Minifigures and rare LEGO Sets by LEGO Certified Professionals. This was my primary resource in tracking down these unofficial sets.

The Brick Blogger. “Unique sets by LEGO Certified Professionals.” 2016.This is a short list containing some of the known sets by LEGO Certified Professionals. It includes sets across a wide range of themes, not just Architecture.

Version History

December 16, 2017. – Added large and small models of New Central Library (Alberta, Canada) by Ben Stephenson & Matt Leadbeater to the guide.

December 11, 2017. – I featured a link to this guide to Unofficial LEGO Sets on my homepage, and relevant forums.

December 6, 2017. – A complete draft of the guide has been written, proofread, and is ready for feedback from my mailing list. (It will be shared on the homepage soon.)

Thank you for reading this article. Please let me know if you discover other unofficial LEGO Architecture sets that I should include in this guide. You can leave a comment on this blog, or email me at tom@tomalphin.com. Thanks!

I really enjoyed this article because it’s right up my geek alley. I’ve only emerged from the “dark ages,” as I’ve read some Lego fans call the long period between childhood Lego play and adult rediscovery, last year; and I’m pretty obsessed with architectural models, especially mini- and micro-models. Thank you for sharing your love and your work.

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